Hidden Skills
by thatpersonwhoisthatperson
Summary: Drabble of sorts. Fluff. Pepper discovers Tony playing video games one morning.


**Note: Yes, here's yet another one. -sigh- I'm home from school, recuperating from a cold (you'd think I'd be writing about being sick, but no) and I was itching to write a fic of some sort. And ta da! Fluffy, pointless little ficlet for all of you! :D But enough of my rambling. Read and enjoy!**

** Disclaimer: I don't own IM. But one can dream.**

Pepper awoke in the morning to a loud crash from somewhere downstairs. She blinked sleepily and sat up, glancing vaguely to her right, but as Pepper suspected, her husband wasn't there. Tony was probably in the workshop testing some new addition to the suit. It happened often.

She was reluctant to get out from under the warm covers, but did anyway, because there was work that needed doing. Even on a Sunday, even though Pepper was married to Tony Stark, there was no escaping the boatload of paperwork from the office. Pepper meandered through the master bedroom, donned her robe, and then padded through the hallway and descended the stairs.

As Pepper was brewing the coffee and reading the newspaper, noises of frustration travelled up through the vents in the basement and into the kitchen. She raised an eyebrow, hoping that there wasn't anything wrong with Tony. The coffeepot beeped, signaling that the coffee was finished, and so Pepper took two cups and proceeded down to the workshop.

However, when she got there and walked a little ways to the small kitchenette area, she was quite surprised by what she saw.

The Wii console was on, and was currently displaying two figures on the television engrossed in some sort of sword fight in the middle of a barren, snowy field. Tony was jerking the controllers every which way; he was really getting into the game, it seemed. Pepper then realized that this particular game was _The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess_, and the person that Tony (Link) was attempting to fight was the Hero's Shade. She smiled, amused, as the Link character fell in battle, and the Hero's Shade lectured him once again on how to perform the Back Slice.

Pepper suddenly noticed the object that had made the crash earlier this morning—a floor lamp, its shade now cracked and bent, was laying on the concrete floor haphazardly.

Tony must be very serious about this game, then.

"Argh...stupid game—NO! No, I pressed the A Button! See?!" Tony marched up to the screen and repeatedly jammed his thumb on the offending button. "How about you try doing this, Hero's Shade? I'll bet you can't do it at all, so don't go lecturing me on what to do all the time!"

Pepper couldn't help it—she laughed. "Tony...what are you doing?"

The sound of her voice behind him made Tony lose his grip on the remote, which sent it flying over the kitchen counter to the left of them. Link failed at performing the Hidden Skill yet again.

"Rhodey brought over this game last night," Tony started, holding up the game case in front of Pepper's face. "And he left it here, so I thought I'd start a file and play. It's so frustrating, though!" Tony fell back into the couch cushions and resumed gameplay.

Pepper squinted at him. "Just how long have you been playing?" she asked skeptically.

"Uh..." he said, distracted. "All night."

"Tony!"

"What?!"

"All _night_?! God, and playing video games?! Don't you have any idea how bad that is for you?" she cried.

"Not particularly, but it can't hurt," he answered. "It's not like I do this every night."

Pepper sighed. "Do you want some coffee?" she tried asking, as the coffee was turning from hot to lukewarm.

"Shhh! Don't talk right now! I'm—argh! No!" Tony shouted as Link fell on the ground once again. "Pepper, you made me mess up!"

"I did no such thing. I can't _make_ you mess up, Tony. Here, give me those." Pepper grabbed the controllers out of Tony's hands, rapidly pressing A to skip through the Hero's Shade's babble. She then performed the Back Slice perfectly, and in one try.

_The third Hidden Skill, the Back Slice, has been passed on!_ Tony watched the screen in a little disbelief as Link did his trademark sword technique. Pepper smiled.

"That's how you do it," she told him.

"Why, Pepper," said Tony, snaking an arm around her waist. "I never knew you played video games."

Pepper leaned against him and smirked. "What do you think I did with my spare time at my apartment?"

"Wait, so...you've played this game before?" Tony asked.

"Mhmm. And beat it," she replied.

"Wow." Images of Pepper, hair unruly, swinging the remote to and fro with her face determined and flushed slightly, flashed through Tony's mind. He pulled her closer.

"Would you like to keep playing?" he asked. Pepper pulled away just slightly and stared at him.

"No, enough video games for you," she told him, and quickly cut off his next protest. "Back to bed. I'm still tired." Pepper stood up and reached out her hand.

Tony looked eager. Too eager.

Pepper rolled her eyes slightly, but grabbed her laptop—even though she knew that Tony was going to make her close it anyway—and continued up the steps with a tired Tony Stark on her heels.

END.

**Note: Meh. Not entirely pleased with this one. It just needed to come out of me. But please review and tell me what you think!**


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